B1+ | CITIZENSHIP LESSON 2

Child Labour
STEP 1 RAISING AWARENESS
1 A Work in pairs. Make a list of reasons why children may Child labour: global estimates
have to work. and trends
B Compare your list with another pair and answer the
following question:
Child labour is a huge problem in the world
today. About 160 million children – 1 – are
Do you think any of the reasons on your lists can
engaged in child labour around the world. 79
justify child labour?
million children are involved in activities that
2
and growth.

STEP 2 GOING AHEAD Unfortunately, between 2016 and 2020, the

2 A Make a note of two things you know about child labour
and two things you would like to learn about it.
B Read the information from the 2021 Report on Child
Labor by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Look at your notes in Ex 2A and:
• underline the parts of the text which confirm the
information you already know.
• circle the new information.
C Read the text again. Complete the gaps (1–7) with the
phrases (a–g).
a child labour is three times higher than
b as a consequence of a sharp rise in poverty caused
by the COVID crisis
c almost one in ten children aged five or more
d which is the most important sector for child labour
e rose by more than 8 million
f are dangerous for their health, safety
g which has the largest share of children in the
population in the world
D Match the numbers (1–5) with what they refer to (a–e).
Check your answers in the text.
1 160 million is the total number of
2 63 million is the number of
3 97 million refers to the number of
4 4.7% is the percentage of
5 Over 25% is the percentage of
a child labour in towns and cities.
b female child labourers.
c child labourers between five and eleven who do not
go to school.
d children aged five or over who are obliged to work.
e male child labourers.
fight against child labour didn’t make significant
progress. The percentage of children in child
labour remained the same as in the previous
four years, while the total number of children
involved in child labour 3 .
Studies suggest that even higher numbers of
children will be involved in child labour
4
. The pandemic has demonstrated that
there are challenges which require international
cooperation for action to be taken at a global
level. The goal is the elimination of child labour.
The ILO Report also states that:
• there are more boys than girls in child labour
(63 million girls and 97 million boys).
• in rural areas 5 in urban areas (13.9% in
rural areas; 4.7% in urban areas).
• 112 million children are employed in
agriculture, 6 .
• over 25% of children aged five to eleven and
over 33% of children aged twelve to fourteen
who are engaged in child labour do not go to
school.
• Africa, 7 , has seen a significant rise in the
number of children in child labour since 2012.
There are now more children in child labour
in Africa than in the rest of the world.

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B1+ | CITIZENSHIP LESSON 2

Language for citizenship STEP 3 TAKING ACTION

3 Complete the text with the phrases in the box.
Digital literacies
outside school hours
under the minimum legal age
5 A Look at the description and example of an acrostic
poem. What word does this one spell?
help your parents at home
don’t interfere with your right to education
An acrostic poem is based on a word written
vertically. Read together, the first letters of
Some types of work done by children cannot
each line spell out that word. All the lines of
be considered child labour. If, for example, you the poem are often connected to the meaning
1
or if you work 2 to earn of the word.
some pocket money, that can’t be classified as child
labour because these activities 3 or
Really think about the problem.
affect your personal growth.
It is important.
Child labour also includes work done by children
Get together with your friends.
4
for that kind of work, which is usually
defined by each country. Help us
To
Save children.
B Write an acrostic poem for the words ‘CHILD LABOUR’.
CRITICAL THINKING The words you choose should help to explain your
The Italian Constitution understanding and feelings about the problem of
child labour.
4 Read the extracts from Artilce 37 of the Italian
Constitution. Go online and find out the minimum C Create a poster with your acrostic poem. Use all the
legal age to start working in Italy. acrostic poems from the class to create an exhibition to
be displayed around your classroom.

La legge stabilisce il limite minimo di età per il

lavoro salariato.
La Repubblica tutela il lavoro dei minori con
speciali norme e garantisce ad essi, a parità di
lavoro, il diritto alla parità di retribuzione.

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